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tv   Early Today  NBC  March 20, 2013 4:00am-4:30am PDT

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that continues to go on. and yet another reason is to show both the american public and the israeli public that although president obama and prime minister benjamin netanyahu hasn't had necessarily the coziest of relationships, that the two countries are still aligned to one another. in fact, the israeli embassy in washington released this video that we're about to show you to just show the connection between the two countries. >> warmly welcome president obama to israel. to express our appreciation for what he has done for us. >> the bond between the united states and israel are unbreakable. and the commitment of the united states to the security of israel is ironclad. ♪ thank you for being a friend
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♪ traveled down the road >> reporter: so obviously president obama and prime minister netanyahu may not have had the coziest of relationships, but the two countries are reaffirming their alliance to one another, especially in the next couple of days. richard? >> that video reminding us of jibjab perhaps. thank you. the pentagon is launching an investigation into the safety of mortars following an explosion monday night on a base in nevada. this morning the military confirmed eight marines have died and at least six more were injured by a mortar round that went off in a firing tube during an exercise. nbc's dan shennamman has more. >> reporter: this evening veterans and civilians alike joined together at a memorial service to honor the soldiers lost and those wounded in an explosion during a training exercise on monday at the hawthorne army depot in nevada. >> it's strange. you fw overseas to fight, and
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you come back home and you get killed. >> reporter: the marines say the soldiers were taking part in mountain warfare training at the hawthorne facility. a 60-millimeter mortar suddenly exploded. the military issued a moratorium on using those mortars until an investigation is complete. >> typically a 60 millimeter mortar is manned by one or maybe two people. the fact that you had so many casualties here would indicate that there were other gun crews and trainees nearby. >> reporter: the service members involved in the training accident belonged to the 2nd marine division, a ground combat unit in lejeune, north carolina. >> every loss of life is heartbreaking. whether that occurs in afghanistan, hawthorne, nevada, north carolina or anywhere else. so it's not -- every tragedy, every loss is a tragedy. >> proudly we remember their service. >> reporter: a tragic loss of
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soldiers who trained to sacrifice. that sacrifice now honored in nevada and nationwide. did senator harry reid cave on new gun control legislation? the ban on assault weapons is being dropped from a bill set to be considered next month. california senator dianne feinstein fought hard to keep that provision, but promises by republicans to block the full package prevailed there. instead senators will consider hiking penalties for people who purchase guns on behalf of those who are barred from having them. the ban will be offered as a second amendment but is expected to fail when it comes up after the easter recess. disturbing new details about that close call at the university of central florida. police released this video of officers responding to a 911 call monday about a student with a gun. it came after a false fire alarm one said police say was tripped by the suspect in an attempt to lure students outside. so they could be easy targets.
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the emergency call came from a roommate after he says the suspect pulled a gun on him. >> like a gun, like large assault gun, i don't know if it's a real gun. i don't know what it is, but i just saw it and slammed my door shut and locked it. >> police found the would-be shooter dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound on the floor of his dorm room and at least two weapons nearby. severe storms left a trail of damage for residents in central mississippi and some areas menacing hail. look at this. they were the size of tennis balls. they broke windshields and debted vehicles. there are some reports of hundreds of insurance claims already. at least 25 police cruisers in jackson and as many as 65 highway patrol vehicles were put out of commission there. bill karins, our meteorologist, boy, when you look at that, you have to remember how powerful mother nature can be sometimes. >> baseballs falling from the sky. >> perfect for spring training, i guess, in some places, maybe, i don't know. >> yeah. dangerous.
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although the west coast has their own storm. just saw a wind gust of 59 miles per hour in newport up in oregon. this storm is coming on shore just north of seattle. pretty strong cold front, strong southerly winds coming right up the coast. we've had overnight heavy rain. avalanche danger is high especially up in the cascades. this storm has a good punch with it and it will be colder on the backside. again, that rain has spread as far south as central california. here's the radar out of the seattle area. again, it's ahead of the cold front. pretty warm. snow levels are pretty high. it's a soaking rain this morning even for the valley locations. only the highest peaks of the olympics showing up with the snow. further to the south, we are watching rain even in areas around san francisco. it's hit and miss right now. it looks steadier from sacramento up i-80. another little batch will come into san francisco shortly. as far as the forecast, there will be showers on and off during the day today in california. heaviest rains this morning. and as the cold front goes through this afternoon, we may even get a couple of thunderstorms out of this, too. we'll watch that, the
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possibility of small hail.s ang. after we get rid of this storm, it looks like we'll clear it out for a nice stretch of weather. >> looking forward to that. i'm nostalgic about last year when it was much warmer. these drinks kill 25,000 americans each year. we'll tell you which ones. eye on the sky. if an asteroid is headed to earth, our only hope might be to pray. new details on space threats opinion congress is holding hearings on drones over the u.s. specifically related to privacy. "early today" is back in two.
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welcome back.
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stories making news this morning. today the senate judiciary committee holds hearings on drones flying in american airspace. senators will address growing privacy concerns surrounding the domestic use of unmanned aircraft. the head of nasa has advice for those worried about impact from deep space. charles boulden was on capitol hill telling senators meteors like the one seen last month in russia are not uncommon and there's nothing we can do to stop them. >> if you detected even a small one like the one that detonated in russia, headed for new york city in three weeks, what would we do? >> the answer to you is if it's coming in three weeks, pray. budget cuts at the pentagon will greatly impact u.s. efforts to seize illegal drug shipments at sea. the top u.s. commander in south america tells senators the number of ships at his disposal could go from six to possibly zero. the supreme court will release same day audio next week
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following oral arguments over two same-sex marriage cases. the justices did the same on the president's health care law. and the bush v. gore case in 2000. t.j. lane who fatally had shot three students at an ohio high school last year was sentenced to three life terms tuesday. the unrepentant 18-year-old wore a t-shirt with the word "killer" written on it at the hearing. passengers on a diverted flight from boston to atlanta got a special delivery last night. 30 pizzas were delivered to the hungry passengers. as they sat on the tarmac in knoxville, tennessee. no word on who ordered the pies, but some passengers think it was a pilot. good stuff there. now to health news. looks like michael bloomberg may be on to something when it comes to the debate on sugary drinks. worldwide about 180,000 obesity-related deaths each year are linked to sugar-sweetened calorie-packed beverages with 25,000 in the u.s. alone. an overwhelming amount of deaths
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were caused by diabetes then cardiovascular disease and cancer. >> announcer: "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil. bring yourself back. with a new wave of worry from cyprus, investors are looking to the fed for some answers. fed head ben bernanke is expected to announce central bank will keep monetary policy unchanged until at least the middle of next year. cyprus is awaiting its next move after protest and rejected bank depositor bailout failed. fedex, general mills will report before the bell. software maker adobe systems shot up in after hours trading. thanks to better than expected quarterly results. meanwhile, the company's tech chief, kevin lynch, has jumped ship to join apple as vp of technology. elsewhere the "wall street journal" reports federal regulators are investigating microsoft kickbacks that bribed foreign officials in return for contracts. microsoft says it is committed
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to the highest ethical standards. meanwhile, here's a head-scratcher. neiman marcus and two other retailers have agreed to settle complaints they marketed real fur clothing as fake. yahoo! is in talks to buy a controlling stake in daily motion in what could be a $300 million deal. speaking of video, a new study by motorola mobility claims that 41% of the content recorded on u.s. dvrs is never watched and deleted. get this, a pretty plain looking bowl bought for $3 at a garage sale in new york turned out to be a 1,000-year-old antique from the dynasty. a london art dealer snapped it up for $2.2 million. probably eating cereal out of that thing, too. straight ahead we'll tell the hottest trending stories of the morning. plus, sport casting legend dick vitale goes head to head with a
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dolphin. and why was a live deer in the back of this car?
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now to some other stories that caught our eye. in pennsylvania, investigators are trying to figure out the cause of a deadly house explosion that killed one and injured two others. two of the three children that live at that house were at school. the other was treated at the scene. emergency crews were initially called to the scene for a
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possible meth lab explosion. new york's famed statue of liberty is set to reopen this independence day. lady liberty closed after hurricane sandy took its toll last october damaging ferry docks and the island's electrical system. in michigan a deer took police by surprise when it stumbled out of the trunk of a car and sprinted into nearby woods. bloop, there it goes. the driver told police he thought he killed the deer when it hit his car. in anchorage a polar bear cub was delivered to the alaska zoo after his mother was killed by hunters. the 3 or 4-month-old cub was taken to the zoo for observation where he will stay until it's decided where to send him long term. cute guy. another sweet scene from san diego where a baby panda got to play in the snow for the first time. donors made it possible for the zoo to make their own snow in the middle of sunny southern california. mom and cub rolled around in the fresh powder together for their special snow day. in sports now, march
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madness, it is here. in the first game of the tournament, north carolina a&t had the lead. the aggies got their first ncaa win, 73-72, and advance to play louisville in the second round. st. mary's opened up a 13-point lead in the second half and went on to beat middle tennessee, 67-54, to advance to play memphis. tonight liu brooklyn faces james madison and boise state versus la salle. the second round of 64 teams starts on thursday. we've got a big upset at the n.i.t. defending national champion kentucky missed the shot as time ran out and robert morris won, 59-57. not a good year for kentucky. at the world baseball classic, the dominican republic scored in the first and went on to defeat puerto rico 3-0 to win the championship. last year's u.s. open winners would get a lot more money if they win again by 2017.
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the total prize money will reach $50 million. $30 million this year, by the way, in case you wanted to take a comparison. equal paychecks for men and women, by the way. and basketball legend dick vitale famous for "yeah baby" took his talents to the georgia aquarium to fill out march madness with dolphins. the dolphins picked 13 seed san diego state as the ultimate winner in the ncaa. we'll see who wins on that one. princess diana's iconic dresses fetch a tidy seven-figure sum at auction. and gerard butler on risking life and limb doing his own movie stunts. "early today" is back after these messages.
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it's one of those umbrella days. maybe blowing inside-out, too. very windy conditions now southern portions of oregon right along the coast. that's going to move up the coast as the front comes on shore. it's a rainy morning especially from san francisco, sacramento northward as that front comes on shore. we could even see a few thunderstorms with it as we go throughout the afternoon. tomorrow maybe isolated showers and storms but not as bad as what we're dealing with right now. >> it's always kind of embarrassing when the umbrella goes the other way. katy perry and john mayer's relationship off again. the two called it quits after seven months after rekindling the relationship. she's in a long list of
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beauties. he's doing okay. actor gerard butler talked about the pain of doing his own stunts in his new film "olympus." >> don't you feel bad for him? >> making millions. the 43-year-old says he was hit in the eye by a bullet casing, lost a fingernail, sustained bruises the size of melons and was hit by exploding debris. >> i apologize. finally, the famous evening gown worn by princess di at a white house state dinner was sold at auction tuesday for $362,000. the anonymous fitter said he was buying the gown as a surprise for his wife. i'm richard lui, and this is "early today."
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the lead story this morning in "the washington post" is about america's war legacy. unemployment after decade of war troops still struggle to find work. politico has a fascinating story about the guy at the center of new jersey senator robert menendez's troubles, having also courted president obama and harry reid. new advertisement from a uk mobile company is highlighting the sillier side of the internet. socks, the dancing shetland wonder pony, is celebrating all things silly. he's the star of a new campaign hoping to encourage users to keep on internetting. strutting his stuff along the cliffs and beach. this pint-sized pony is moonwalking his way to almost 6 million videos online. the new back seat bending system offers cab riders a choice of beverages, keeping cans cool in the trunk. passengers order on a touch screen and have their soda in just seconds.
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these cold drink cabs could be coming to a city near you. yeah, with future rollouts already planned for new york and chicago. i'll take a diet mountain dew, please. one high school senior might not need a crown to feel like a king. jake davidson took to youtube to ask supermodel kate upton to his senior prom. the video has sparked more than 100,000 views. quirky comparisons between him and the "sports illustrated" cover girl. when upton tweeted back, she said you can call me katie and that she needed to check her calend calendar. sometimes it works. >> good for him. are we allowed to make videos, too? i'm married. you can. >> i'll try. time for an early look at what's happening today. colorado's governor will sign three gun-control bills into law in the wake of last summer's movie theater massacre. it will include universal background checks. we've learned another shooting
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in the state. a sheriff's spokesman says the department of corrections director has been shot and killed. they are searching for the suspect. and queen elizabeth feeling better. and today she'll be out and about. the queen joined by prince phillip and duchess kate at the tube station to mark the 150th anniversary of the london underground. all right. here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on "today." the latest on the fallout from the steubenville rape case. hear from the ohio attorney general mike dewine on the lessons learned from that. and meet a photographer who plans to meet every single person on his facebook friends list. that will be about 5,000, i guess. keep it on this channel for more news, weather and sports. i'm richard lui along with bill karins. thanks for watching "early today." you have a great wednesday.
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this just in. president obama touching down in israel for his very first view as president. we'll take a look at his historic trip and why it meenls so much to so many in the bay area. >> we don't have too much time. desperate for a donor. the 6-year-old who needs a bone marrow donor. winter ended about 30 minutes ago and already we're dealing with spring showers. christina loren has a look at our forecast coming up. it's wednesday, march 20g9. this is today in the bay. good morning, everybody.
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i'm jon kelley. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. this is what it looked like at at&t park. fans decked out in rain gear, sporting some umbrellas there, doing what they could to stay dry. >> looked like it had the team spirit on, worked out for them. another round of rain is on the way. on top of it all for us, as always, christina loren is out in front. good morning. >> good morning to you. i was watching these showers all night. i'm actually happy to report some places are get iting a lite more than we originally expected. that's really good news, because we need that rain at this point. what you're noticing, not just the deep greens on the radar this morning. we've got the yellows, oranges. that's moderate to heavy rainfall coming down over parts of the north bay where we've already accumulated over half an inch of rain in some spots. as we head throughout the day today, we'll continue to see these showers press to the south. the south bay is dealing with the showers for most of the day. i'm going to time the system out.

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